Assistant Attorney General Joseph Maziarz Honored

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 24, 2007) Joseph Maziarz, an Arizona Assistant Attorney General, will receive the prestigious Jim Jones Award by the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG) this evening at the group’s summer meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Maziarz is Unit Chief Counsel in the Criminal Appeals Section of the Attorney General’s Office.

The award is named after former Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones, who is now an Idaho Supreme Court Justice. It is presented to attorneys who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to public service and achieve significant results on issues affecting member states.

“I nominated Joe for this award to recognize his outstanding service to this Office and the State of Arizona over the past 22 years,” Attorney General Terry Goddard said. “He is an extraordinary example for other prosecutors.”

Maziarz has served as Unit Chief Counsel since 1991. He has represented the State of Arizona as an appellate prosecutor in more than 500 appeals in state and federal courts. He has argued more than 50 cases in the Arizona Supreme Court, the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His cases have resulted in an extraordinary 101 published appellate court opinions.

Maziarz successfully defended the State in many high-profile cases. They include:

Rudi and Michael Apelt, two brothers from Germany who devised and carried out a plot to marry a Mesa woman and murder her for insurance proceeds.

Dan Willoughby, who conspired to murder his wife in Rocky Point, Mexico.

Max Dunlap, who conspired with John Harvey Adamson to use a car bomb to murder Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles.

Jonathan Doody, who murdered nine people, including six monks and a nun at a Phoenix Buddhist monastery.

Maziarz joined the Attorney General’s Office in 1985 after clerking for Arizona Appeals Court Judge Jack Ogg. He received both a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice and a law degree from Arizona State University.